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Northern Powerhouse 'De Valuation'

Submitted by Benefitz Betty on Thu, 2017-10-12 13:53

The Chair of the Northern Energy Taskforce : "For at least 100 years, the north of England was the powerhouse of the country.

Even as King Coal’s reign came to an end, the north retained a significant slice of the nation’s generating capacity, mainly through wind and nuclear power. But of even greater significance is the north’s legacy of skills in engineering, distribution and manufacturing, a strong research base and unique geographical assets.

Over the past 12 months, the Northern Energy Taskforce, led by IPPR North, has been working with energy stakeholders from across the region to devise a strategy to unlock green growth in the north. With the right leadership and direction, we believe that our vision to create an energy economy worth £15bn and create 100,000 jobs by 2050 is within our grasp.

Furthermore, we believe that unleashing the northern energy economy is essential to achieving the nation’s climate change commitments and has the potential to deliver affordable energy for businesses and households alike..."

"With nearly half of all UK renewable power generated in the north of England and extensive scope to scale-up offshore wind and develop tidal schemes, the north has the geological, geographic and historical assets to power and heat the nation. It is leading the way in the transition to a renewable power supply and it’s also home to an extensive nuclear capability with a flourishing supply chain in research and professional services right here in Greater Manchester. But the real energy revolution sits right under our noses..."

"There is a widely held view that opportunities to gain first-mover advantage and to become a world-leader in carbon capture and storage or utilisation technologies is perceived to be slipping away. The journey from early-stage innovation to full commercialisation and scale-up requires careful navigation with support from public and private players both in Greater Manchester and across the wider north of England. This is why our Northern Energy Strategy calls for a new Northern Energy Accelerator to support innovation and co-ordinate investment in partnership with Innovate UK and other national bodies. "

Wot like Cern? Erm ... OK, so a Yorkshire 'Chivera' aside... tis wild n wooly with much diversity. A devolution for the whole of the North of England may not seem quite so dumb... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNivByky2QM

As for Yorkshire's very own devolution bid, thats OK for Leeds Sheffield etc, and the Rural Communities get their own Rural funding. Would it be the Coastal Areas & 'Townies' that get left out? As explained here by the Yorkshire Coast's Sandra Turner:

"European funding has been secured to promote the community led local development (CLLD) on the Yorkshire Coast.

The programme aims to get people into work, and East Riding of Yorkshire Council has been given £6.5 million of European funding to support community development, business growth and enterprise along the Yorkshire Coast.

A majority of the funds will be targeted at Bridlington and Scarborough. A report will be considered by East Riding of Yorkshire Council's Cabinet on Tuesday 17 October on how the programme will be delivered in partnership with Scarborough Borough Council.

It will also give local organisations and businesses the opportunity to apply for grants from the European Social Fund and the European Regional Development Fund.

Council Jane Evison, cabinet portfolio holder for transforming lifestyles at East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said:

“This programme has been nearly two years in development and we have had great support from a wide range of partners across the Scarborough and Bridlington area, which has been essential for securing these funds. We can now continue to work with the local community and businesses to maximise the benefits of the funding, which stand to be significant.

By securing these funds now, we are guaranteed that the full programme can be delivered, in spite of the situation with the UK planning to leave the European Union.”

The programme will run until the end of 2021, even if the UK leaves the EU before that date...." That's a big IF.

showcasing the engineering & technologies of the North, surely it would be wise to consider, should no further European Funding become available for Northern Coastal Communities, including ecological & environmental protection works, who is going to pay?

"Northern energy is a win-win-win: new jobs, lower carbon emissions and cheaper fuel. Price caps will only go so far, it’s time to kickstart the local energy revolution."

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"The biggest shock, 25 years ago, was not the announcement itself but the scale of it, he added..."

Hmmm

"In Britain, ghost trains are real — but they’re more of a bureaucratic curiosity than a Halloween nightmare.

They are scheduled passenger trains that hardly anyone actually rides, running infrequently at obscure hours and stopping at stations that almost no one uses. They might operate only once a week or in only one direction. Other than a lonely crew member or two, they are often completely empty.

Why do they even operate? Believe it or not, to save money.

Railway companies would rather not serve these routes at all, because they generate too little traffic. But if the companies discontinued the routes completely, they would be obliged under British law to formally abandon the lines, and that’s a very costly, time-consuming and legally complex business.

The only way to avoid that trouble and expense is to maintain some passenger service on the line, even if only on the barest of bare-bones schedules. So the railways run the ghost trains, officially called parliamentary trains, just to satisfy the law — and don’t care whether anyone rides them."

"Though the National Infrastructure Commission, headed by cross-bench peer Andrew Adonis, puts the onus on the Government to start taking long-term decisions – it cites 13 years of dither over Heathrow’s third runway as being emblematic of indecisive policy-making – it’s significant that its latest report was launched with metro-mayors present. It warns that local leaders have to accept a share of responsibility.

Yet, with this county a notable absentee because of its well-documented differences, this call-to-arms is even more pertinent at the end of a week in which supporters of the One Yorkshire devolution deal found themselves at odds with Jake Berry, the Northern Powerhouse Minister.

As this newspaper continues to stress, devolution policy is integral to Yorkshire’s future prosperity and both the Conservatives and Labour have, to varying degrees, allowed party politics to stand in the way of tangible progress being made.

Given the issue’s importance, it’s very disappointing that less than a third of this region’s 56 MPs attended this week’s debate in Parliament. Furthermore just 16 MPs – 13 Labour and three Conservatives – have, so far, accepted an invitation to meet CBI leaders at Westminster on Tuesday to discuss how Yorkshire can compete domestically and globally.

The no-shows should think again. Not only do they need to be there – the future of their constituents is at stake – but they need to persuade senior Cabinet Ministers to match the ambition and pragmatism of One Yorkshire ‘coalition of the willing’. Another ‘C’: this time standing for Championing Yorkshire. For, the longer the impasse remains, the harder it will become to tackle the infrastructure shortcomings that Lord Adonis highlighted."

"...One of the reasons why local government has been so little valued in Britain and why it has been unable to resist the process of centralisation is that there has been so sharp a separation between local and national political roles, with the local role being seen as distinctly subordinate. The metro-mayors may well alter that perception..."

Bottom line is no-one seems interested, other than a few local blue boys. The Q is - who has Yorkshire got to sell the Devolution dream?

Mebbe as the Post is leading this they could suggest some Mayor possibilites, other than the Verity.

"A STRING of Conservative council leaders have called for talks to secure a 'Greater Yorkshire' devolution deal in a blow to the alternative One Yorkshire plan.

A letter signed by North Yorkshire County Council leader Carl Les, York Council leader David Carr and Conservative district council leader colleagues in North Yorkshire says it is time for councils in North, West and East Yorkshire to negotiate a devolution deal with the Government.

The move is likely to be opposed by Labour council leaders amid doubts they could persuade rank-and-file councillors to back the Greater Yorkshire option.

Labour leaders will also question why they should back the Conservative-supported Greater Yorkshire idea when the Government has previously rejected their preferred Leeds City Region proposal.

The signatories to the latest letter were among the 17 councils to back the One Yorkshire plan over the summer, a proposal for a single devolution deal for the whole of Yorkshire.

However, the Government has resisted the idea and the new letter makes clear North Yorkshire Conservatives now want to explore other options.

But with Labour resistance to Greater Yorkshire, Conservative opposition to Leeds City Region and support ebbing from One Yorkshire, a renewed period of deadlock on devolution to the region now looks the most likely outcome."

How confusing is that?

In short politics is the block. John Prescott (Hull) first pushed forward the Northern Devolution bid with the North formerly seen as a Labour stronghold, hence putting the squeeze on the Twonks in North Yorkshire.

"We Remainers must not give up. The future of this country, and indeed of Europe, is far too important to accept the argument that we are bad losers and “it is time to move on”.

It cannot be repeated often enough that on the evening of the fateful day, 23 June, when the initial results of the referendum seemed to be going against him, Nigel Farage declared that, if the result were to be 52% for Remain and 48% for Leave, then there should be another referendum."

"Lord Bourne continued to stand by the Government’s insistence that the Sheffield City Region devolution deal should go ahead despite two of the four council areas it covers, Barnsley and Doncaster, withdrawing their support.

However, the junior Communities and Local Government Minister, held out the possibility that a wider Yorkshire deal could be done in the future.

Pressed in the Lords by Lord Wallace why the Government was resisting the One Yorkshire idea, Lord Bourne said “it is for the people of Yorkshire to decide where this goes ultimately” but added “we must progress with” the Sheffield City Region."

"The Yorkshire Asian Business Association, with the Federation of Asian Businesses, is leading the launch of a Northern Powerhouse trade mission to India.

The Northern Powerhouse Indian Trade Mission, taking place this November, is open to any local business, looking to increase their footprint and accelerate growth in exciting and emerging markets such as India.

With an average growth rate of 7.5 per cent between 2004 to 2013, India’s economy is now growing faster than China’s and is forecast to be the seventh largest in the world by 2019,

Amarjit Singh, chairman of the Yorkshire Asian Business Association, said: “I would urge any business that is looking to expand and is curious about new opportunities in India, to take advantage of this opportunity and sign up to get involved today.”

The Northern Powerhouse Indian Trade Mission will provide an opportunity to showcase what Yorkshire has to offer with a focus on the North’s key industries, such as manufacturing, digital and health innovation. Businesses that take part in the mission will be given the chance to meet with high-level Indian officials, such as Government Ministers, Chamber of Commerce chiefs and senior policy makers.

Sharon Jandu, Administrator to the Federation of Asian Businesses said “Asians and British Asians account for around 7 per cent of the UK population, but we make a huge contribution to the UK’s economy. This trade mission is an opportunity for local businesses to directly benefit from the links within the British Asian community to India.”

"By the time HS2 arrives in the North, most of the business leaders and politicians of today will be dead.

Well, maybe not dead. But by 2033, I certainly hope to be retired, as I expect many of my contemporaries will be. That’s not accounting for the inevitable delays that will happen along the way.

And that’s just the high-speed rail link from the North to London. We don’t even know for sure that the desperately needed East-West link across the North from Liverpool to Hull will ever happen, never mind when.

At the recent Conservative party conference, in an attempt to reassure us in the North that the Government hasn’t forgotten about us once again, Chancellor Phillip Hammond announced an extra £400m for transport spending in the North. Thanks for that Phil, but when you consider the Government’s own estimate’s that HS2 will cost £403m a mile, we’re not going to be getting very far with that.

This is a familiar story to those of us who work and live in the North. I could reel off endless examples, facts and figures of a Government that hasn’t given the North its fair share. For a little while things looked promising. While the idea of the Northern Powerhouse seemed to be high up on the Government’s agenda for a while, ultimately it was all talk.

Private businesses don’t want to just talk about it, they want to just get on with it. A lot has changed recently and with a new Government with new priorities and Brexit taking up their time, we have seen enthusiasm from Whitehall wane. It’s a well-known problem – the North wants, the North asks, the North needs – but rarely the North gets.

So what’s the answer? Devolution? Increased government spending? That will be part of the solution, yes. But it’s also up to us as to play our part. By us I mean the business people of the North. Entrepreneurs know how to make things happen. We take ideas and we run with them.

Back in the 1990s when I bought my first home computer and no one could tell me how to get on the internet, it gave me the idea to found Freeserve, an internet service provider with no subscription fee. It was a success and within six months we had a million subscribers.

I’m proud that I played my part in bringing the internet into the homes of millions of Britons. That all happened because me and my partners made it happen, we didn’t sit around waiting for someone else to do it for us.

The North of England has been a powerhouse once before. As the home of the Industrial Revolution, the innovations that came out of the North of England have shaped the world. The railways, manufacturing processes, electric lightbulbs, even the modern co-operative movement all came out of the North of England. We can do it again, but when we do, it’ll be the private sector that does it.

It’s not that the North hasn’t got the talent to do it. We’re blessed with some fantastic universities that have the reputation to attract the best and brightest young people from all over the world. But it’s a sad statistic that 55 per cent of our graduates leave Yorkshire and the Humber, with the vast majority headed for London. It’s no wonder the capital continues to grow while we fall behind – our home-grown talent are the ones helping them to do it!

It’s not all doom and gloom, however. Something has already started and it’s exciting. The idea of the Northern Powerhouse has been adopted by businesses in the North and has evolved beyond anything George Osborne could have imagined.

We’re working together, breaking down old rivalries and forging new relationships. Organisations like Tech North and the Northern Health Science Alliance bring together organisations across the North of England to drive growth in the tech and health sectors.

And next February, for the third year running, thousands of business, civic and community leaders will gather at the Northern Powerhouse Conference in Manchester. This is an event created, organised and sponsored by Northern entrepreneurs. Over two days, we will come together to celebrate the successes of a vibrant North. We will meet up, share our ideas and work out how to collaborate to drive growth in the North forward.

It would be nice if the Government would sort out the railways and give us our fair share, yes. But while we wait, there’s plenty more that we can be getting on with in the meantime. We, business leaders, need to create the environment that encourages our young people to flourish and stay put, and use their talent to make the Northern Powerhouse a reality. After all, they’ll be the ones using HS2.

Ajaz Ahmed is the founder of Freeserve and an advisory board member to the Northern Powerhouse Conference."

"It’s funny because they’ve been burying things in so many places, they’re not overly bothered where they dig the holes, but they do have some favourites, like under the willow tree, along the banks of the ditch and slap bang in the middle of the house lawn!"

“Work isn’t work. It’s fulfilling a dream. It’s making a difference. Work is a journey. Every day we face challenges. You will learn something every day."

"And it’s not difficult to do, in all honesty. We have three national parks each with their own unique character. The North York Moors, the Yorkshire Dales and a large chunk of the Peak District are different but equally stunning and memorable.

The dramatic Yorkshire coastline has beaches that look like they’re from different countries – the sweeping wide bay of Runswick, the mammoth proportions of Sandsend, Filey’s quiet Edwardian elegance, the dramatic cliffs and fishing villages in the far north and right down to the rugged wetlands of Spurn Point all feel so different.

There really is no need to leave Yorkshire if variety is what you’re after. Whitby, Scarborough, Bridlington and Hornsea might all feel like quaint seaside towns, yet each is unique in its personality and substance...

"Yorkshire has always been heaving with culture. We are the land of JB Priestley, Alan Bennett and Brian Blessed, three Brontë literary giants, Bond film composer John Barry, poets Ted Hughes and Ian McMillan and sculptor Barbara Hepworth, not to mention actors Dame Judi Dench and the new Doctor Who, Jodie Whittaker.

Our seven stunning cities rival any on a global platform. Each is full of contrast but in many ways they are complementary. Look at the success story of Hull. As the UK’s City of Culture in 2017 it has reinvented itself as Yorkshire’s only maritime city and has produced some amazing events, festivals and celebrations to excite residents and tourists alike...

"And let’s not forget our food. Whatever your choice, you’ll find it here. Our climate gives our growers and farmers a natural advantage. It’s no coincidence that many of the world’s great chefs are from Yorkshire...

"Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire chemicals tycoon, is nearing a decision on where to build his new alternative to the Land Rover Defender — with two sites in Britain still in the running. The £700m project is expected to create 1,000 direct jobs and support possibly 5,000 more in the supply chain ...

"Chronicle Live has reported plans on Durham Business website to build a new car factory in the UK after billionaire Ineos boss selected a designer for the new Land Rover Defender. Chemicals Tycoon Jim Ratcliffe announced his intention to create a new car factory, and said a base in the North of England would be his choice.

The project, named Projekt Grenadier, is run through Mr Ratcliffe’s company Ineos Automotive, designing the new 4×4.

The company haven’t decided where it will manufacture the vehicle, but is asking the UK government for financial support to build the vehicle in the UK rather than Germany."

"I’m not sure if he has ever ridden a horse, or driven a tractor, but he is certainly doing magnificent stuff for farming.

For a start, he’s a champion of shale gas, which (as all real farmers know) is a good thing for cheaper fertiliser and a less hungry world.

And he’s also started work on a replacement for Land Rover’s Defender – Projekt Grenadier – and promises that it will be true to the utilitarian spirit of the original.

I do hope it’s not too late to chip in with suggestions for the overall design, based on 33 years of farm vehicle ownership – Minivan, Fiat Panda 4×4, Defender 90TD, Range Rover Mark 1 and 2, Suzuki SJ and Hyundai Terracan.

The Grenadier should be a three-door van. The rear door should be wide, hinge at the top to give shelter on wet shoot days, and the side doors should be long to boost rear visibility.

It does not need side steps – no one knows how to use them (is it left foot first or right foot?) and all they do is get mud on your calves..

Forget daytime running lights (driving along unnoticed is vital when stalking poachers or recalcitrant employees) and simple halogen bulbs in headlights will suffice.

The door mirrors should be simple – no heater elements or built-in indicators; they will get broken by cattle and gateposts and need replacing. Keep ’em cheap.

The ignition key should be just that: a key. It goes into a slot and you turn it to start the engine. It stays in the slot while driving, and you take it out and put it in your pocket when not. No stop/start buttons, please.

The dashboard needs one dial for speed, and others for engine monitoring: fuel, temperature, oil pressure and voltage. There is absolutely no need for an in-dash screen of any sort. Give us storage space instead.

Keep the gearbox simple: two ranges and a diff lock, all selected by lever. Forget any absurd menu featuring “desert”, “mountains” or “Waitrose car park”.

The wheels – five of them please, to include a full-sized spare – should be steel, and the tyres narrow and tall. Around 255/65R16 is perfect (and cheap).

Keep the spare off the back door (see the bit about top-hingeing) and supply a proper sturdy jack with a wide base. Suspension: non-adjustable and spring/damper combination only. No airbags.

Make the seats from quality leather – the best material for muddy use. Seat covers are awkward and uncomfortable.

Design the seat-belt warning buzzer/light to activate for a mercifully brief interval, acknowledge that we’re in a field and then shut the hell up. Oh, and make it in dark green.

And here’s a top-10 list of things to avoid copying from the Defender: the door catch, the handbrake, the leaks, the ventilation system, the wipers, the ergonomics, the rust, the whole electrical system, the unreliability and, of course, the cult status.

There you have it, Mr Ratcliffe: the ideal farm vehicle, perfect for the brave-new post-Defender world. Make it so, and you’ll be very welcome to drive one down to Flindt Towers and park it on my lawn. You’ll be my hero."

Sir Bob Geldof, founding member of The Boomtown Rats and tireless campaigner for numerous world charities, has been announced as headline speaker at The Business Day 2018 in Bridlington.

He replaces the previously announced headline speaker, Joanna Lumley, who has been forced to withdraw due to changing filming schedules for her latest documentary project.

Sir Bob is most well known for using his high profile to raise awareness of a wide range of causes - primarily in Africa but more recently speaking out against the mass ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya people of North West Burma.

He rose to fame thanks to his music career; which began with The Boomtown Rats in 1975, and is known for the award-winning hit albums and singles he has recorded – both as part of the band and as a solo artist – and he continues to be a prolific recording artist.

It was during the Ethiopian famine in 1984 that he turned his attention to charity work, organising Band Aid and the fundraising event Live Aid. He received a knighthood in 1986 in recognition of his charity work.

Sir Bob’s co-ownership of Planet 24; a television production company that launched The Big Breakfast in 1992, he became established as an astute businessman. He also founded Deckchair.com; an online travel agent, and later founded documentary film production company, Ten Alps Communications.

Today, Sir Bob continues his charity work; having recently completed Geldof in Africa for the BBC, during which he travelled through West, Central and East Africa. He has also written a number of articles for publications including Time magazine.

He uses his experiences and insight into global issues to talk in an informative, provocative and entertaining way about a variety of topics. He is internationally recognised as a leading authority on world politics, international and current affairs, music, humanitarian issues, philanthropy, poverty, human rights and Africa. He is also a business entrepreneur with extensive knowledge of Brexit and UK and Irish politics.

“Sir Bob Geldof is a fantastic addition to our programme of speakers for The Business Day. The event is billed as a day of discovery and insight for business people – and who better than Sir Bob to deliver a unique world insight that, I have no doubt, people will be eager to hear.”

Andrew Aldis, general manager of Bridlington Spa, said:

“As a venue manager and event producer, who was a teenager in the 1980s, it’s hard to describe the pride I feel in sharing space with Sir Bob Geldof for a few hours. The Band Aid single and Live Aid events were pivotal moments that focused the attention of teenagers like me on the plight of those suffering through the Ethiopian famine and that focus led me to an interest in current and world affairs that persists to this day.”

Meanwhile, Joanna Lumley has apologised for having to withdraw from the event:

“I am so sorry not to be joining you for The Business Day event. Due to changes in filming schedules, I will now be filming my next documentary, The Silk Road, over the date of the event.

I hope you all have a wonderful time and again, many apologies that I cannot be with you.”

In response, Andrew Aldis said:

“On behalf of the entire team producing The Business Day I’d like to thank Ms Lumley for her involvement thus far and her very gracious apology. We will, no doubt, be knocking at her door again for a future event.”

The Business Day is an all-day business event which takes place at Bridlington Spa on Friday, 8 June 2018."

"Once a rebel always a rebel, Lord Heseltine was unceremoniously sacked by Theresa May more than a year ago in a row over Brexit...

"The combative Conservative peer, who famously led a botched attempt to oust Margaret Thatcher four years after quitting her cabinet in the Westland affair, says: “I don’t come from Yorkshire although a lot of Heseltines do as a matter of fact - but I hope as an outsider with the best of local sympathies, the brand I think could set the world alight is Yorkshire.

“All over the world it’s self evident to me there are people who have the greatest affection and sympathy for that remarkable county...

“It is about the inability of councils and councillors to agree to share a wider vision, and from a central government point of view, where there are many forces at work against devolution, the inability of councils and councillors to agree is a powerful argument against devolution...

“It’s all about the human nature of ‘what I have I hold’.

“I’ve always said I can merge any two companies in 24 hours if one of the chairmen will stand down.”

“But it’s more profound than that because there’s a very considerable feeling that the North has been left behind, well here’s an opportunity for the North to catch up and to fire on all cylinders.

“This is an opportunity for the North to exercise power over more of the critical decisions that affects its wellbeing.

“So it’s economically right but it’s much more than that - it is socially, culturally and politically right.”

"Lord Heseltine, himself a former Environment Secretary, said the Government could be forced into providing upland farmers in Yorkshire an “underpinning support system” as “schemes just won’t do it on their own”.

Mr Gove has described the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy “fundamentally flawed” and argued that its system of paying farmers based on how much land they have is “unjust, inefficient and drives perverse outcomes”.

But Lord Heseltine warned: “We will go back to what we had before we joined the Common Agricultural Policy, before that we had an annual price support system for farmers and we’ll go back to that.

“I think the Treasury will be seeing this as an area with significant potential economies and all the language that I see that the support system is going to be replaced by schemes.

“And schemes mean bureaucrats, conditions, part-funding, but we don’t know, all we know is that there’s a cliff edge.”

He went on: “I think they (farmers) wil take a hit and the subsidy system will be under threat, that would be my guess, and schemes will come in.

“I would tell them to be very worried.”

Lord Heseltine, who is himself a farmer, said that instead of the Government “underpinning the agricultural support system”, farms could be paid a proportion of the cost of ploughing up land, planting more seeds, protecting wildlife or opening up areas for public access."

"Anyone wishing to hold a play session outside their own front door has to submit a six-page application form at least eight weeks in advance. All residents must be approached for their written agreement (some luck) and sessions must be supervised by adults wearing yes, those high-visibility vests.

And then, believe it or not, marshalls must be stationed at every entry point, with road signs and cones provided by the council put up at specified locations.

Organisers are also obliged to carry out a risk assessment in their own time (and presumably at their own expense) and are advised to obtain public liability insurance of at least £5m. Try explaining that particular challenge to your typical insurance broker. Oh, and every road closure must be advertised in the local press and on the street. And then local authorities tell us we must accept council tax increases, when they have the audacity to waste time drawing up stuff like this..."

"It takes 27 minutes to pass through the Gotthard Base Tunnel. It’s something of a dreamlike experience: you’re on the train hurtling through lush Swiss scenery — trackside haystacks and farmhouses, small villages with a single towering steeple, distant mist-crowned mountains, and dramatic landscape unfolding in more shades of green than you knew existed — then all of a sudden, everything goes dark. Pitch black. You’re still moving at about 240kmh, but now you can’t see where you’re going.

That darkness, a 56km stretch through a mountain of granite, was unveiled in December 2016. The completed tunnel is part of an epic narrative. The Gotthard Base Tunnel replaced one that took 10 years to construct during the Victorian era. At that time, European commerce was growing briskly thanks to a new-fangled mode of transportation: the railroad. To travel from the medieval city of Basel, in northwest Switzerland close to the French and German borders, to Milan, a commercial centre, took 50 hours across the Swiss Alps by stagecoach. So in 1872, construction began on the tunnel, which would employ more than 2500 miners at a time and ultimately claim 100 lives, especially once they moved from using gunpowder to the then newly-invented dynamite to bore through the solid earth.

The new tunnel, which carries a price tag of $US12billion ($NZ16.6billion) and took 17 years to build, is the longest train tunnel in the world. I relate all this not to bury the lead, but because these are the things you’ll think about as the train emerges into Bodio, a tiny town in Switzerland’s Ticino region. It feels like a world away from the other side of the mountain. You’ll notice how quickly the scenery transformed from mountainous Alpine stretches to palm tree-dappled Mediterranean landscape. Even the outside temperature is a few degrees warmer than it was where the tunnel starts..."

"In a letter to members, the club committee revealed that it has been approached by FGP Ltd Chartered Surveyors - acting as agents on behalf of INEOS - but had turned down the £1,000 offer to conduct the test.

Over the last few months, the company has asked many Ryedale landowners for permission to undertake ‘seismic’ surveys - designed to determine the presence of any shale gas deposits deep underground.

In a statement, the club said: “The board of directors at Malton and Norton Golf Club Ltd can confirm, the club has been approached by FGP Ltd, on behalf of INEOS Upstream Ltd, in regard to proposed geophysical surveys. The board has rejected this request on behalf of the members and is monitoring the situation closely. The directors wish to make no further comment at the present time.”

An INEOS spokesman said: “INEOS is currently in the surveying stages of its work towards a flourishing shale industry in this country. At the moment we are having discussions with a number of landowners in Yorkshire around the surveying process but these are at an early stage.

“Shale, if successful, can bring competitively-priced energy, investment and manufacturing jobs to the north of England. Recent figures on jobs and investment estimate that the shale industry is expected to bring in £33 billion of investment into England alone over the next two decades.”

"There were “four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire”, according to The Beatles song A Day in the Life. The lyric was inspired by a newspaper article John Lennon read about the state of Britain’s crumbling roads but could equally have been a prophecy about the future debate over fracking for shale gas.

Cuadrilla, the company leading the charge to unlock gas trapped in “tight” rock formations in the north of England, last week completed its first horizontal shale well of the kind that has transformed the US energy sector. It drilled to a depth of 2,700 metres and then extended laterally for 800m through a gas-rich area beneath its site off Preston New Road, near Blackpool, not Blackburn. But, if gas can be produced commercially there, it would add momentum to plans for further exploration across North West England, as well as in neighbouring Yorkshire and the East Midlands.

Work is under way on a second well at the same site, with a view to hydraulic fracturing — the injection of water, sand and chemicals at high-pressure to open cracks in the rock — this summer. Francis Egan, Cuadrilla chief executive, called it “a major milestone towards getting Lancashire gas flowing into Lancashire homes”. Yet, his celebration of Britain’s first horizontal shale well, compared with more than 100,000 in the US, showed how little headway has been made towards tapping the extensive resources believed to exist within the Bowland Shale formation stretching from Blackpool and Wrexham in the west to Scarborough and Nottingham in the east.

Many of the rosiest forecasts for gas production advanced by fracking supporters are based on a 2013 industry report which, echoing The Beatles, projected there would be 4,000 shale wells in the UK by 2032.

A Freedom of Information request by Greenpeace, the environmental group, revealed in February that the UK government has a much lower expectation of just 155 by 2025. Even that could be a stretch based on current progress.

Cuadrilla is only now getting back on track after a hiatus since it caused minor earth tremors while test fracking near Blackpool in 2011. Similar delays have beset other UK shale pioneers as weakness in gas prices has undermined their economics at the same time as grassroots opposition increased planning hurdles.

Third Energy is hoping to start fracking a vertical well at Kirby Misperton in North Yorkshire this year, but the government wants assurances of the lossmaking company’s financial health before granting approval.

No such doubts surround Ineos, the big petrochemicals group controlled by multi-billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, which is the largest owner of UK shale licences. But it too has faced resistance at almost every turn from landowners, local councillors and environmental activists.

For sceptics, all this goes to show how difficult it will be to replicate the US shale boom in the more densely populated UK. Whereas US resource rights usually rest with the landowner, in Britain they belong to the Crown.

That gives communities little incentive to support developments liable to scar landscapes and clog roads, even if contested claims about the risk of poisoned water are discounted. Yet the potential prize is big enough for believers to keep faith.

The British Geological Survey has estimated that the Bowland Shale holds about 1,300tn cubic feet of gas. Even if only a fraction was recovered, that could help meet the UK’s annual consumption of about 3 tcf for decades. Opponents say the UK should be weaning itself off gas if it is serious about tackling climate change. But the fuel still accounts for almost 40 per cent of the country’s electricity generation and the vast majority of heating even as North Sea reserves decline. During the recent cold snap, a cargo of Russian liquefied natural gas was shipped in to replenish supplies.

Surely it would be better, goes the argument, to use resources beneath our own feet. A small band of mostly private investors are responsible for keeping the UK shale dream alive. Aim-listed IGas and Egdon Resources are so far the only fracking companies to brave the public markets. Cuadrilla, is owned by AJ Lucas, an Australian energy service provider, and Riverstone Holdings, a private equity company. Third Energy is backed by buyout firm GNRI. Both are seen as candidates for flotation but only if the commercial case for UK shale becomes clearer. Successful fracking by Cuadrilla this year will be crucial if its first two holes in Lancashire are to be followed by hundreds, or even 4,000 more."

"The buffer zone around homes was one of several proposals contained within the joint minerals and waste plan for North Yorkshire and York which will guide decisions on applications for fracking and similar work up to 2030.

Other draft measures include legal protection for parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty, scheduled monuments, listed historic parks and gardens and the historic setting of York, which would exclude a number of areas around the city from fracking.

A statement released by City of York Council, North Yorkshire County Council and North Yorkshire Moors National Park Authority said that after evidence heard during the day Ms Ord had indicated she was satisfied with this policy.

It added: “With regard to the 500m zone, she has indicated she is provisionally satisfied that this is sound, but has indicated she will give further consideration to representations on this point from the UK gas and oil industry who have objected to this restriction in strong terms.

“The inspector’s indicative view is encouraging and a step towards achieving a heightened level of policy protection from fracking, for the special characteristics of this part of the Yorkshire landscape, the heritage of York and the residents within the plan area.”

Under the proposals to stop fracking near homes, any development application within 500 metres would only be permitted “where it is robustly evidenced that there would be no unacceptable impacts”..."

"... This comes back to the failure of past and present governments to recognise that the challenges facing resorts around Britain’s coastlines are different to the needs of other urban areas, not least because of an ageing population coupled with insufficient opportunities for younger people who can turn, as a result, to social vices like drugs with tragic consequences.

Tokenism by Ministers masks hidden pockets of deprivation and there needs, moving forward, to be a much clear policy focus – one which links transport and inward investment to the future health and wellbeing of resorts as well as their ability to attract more visitors. Now who is up for the job before the coast is left hung out to dry?"

"Twenty six years and 28 expeditions later, he and a 30-strong international team of cavers, geologists, hydrologists, biologists and archaeologists have discovered more than 1,650 caves in the state. Meghalaya is now known to be home to some of the world's most complex cave systems; and has more caves than any other place in India.

Back at Krem Puri, we are ready to go in.

Wearing hard hats and headlamps, we plunge into the darkness. On the left, there's a low, small passage. If you want to make your way through this claustrophobia-inducing hole in the rock wall, you need to wear caving suits so you can crawl on your belly, hands and knees. I am not wearing one, and so a "tight crawl" is completely ruled out."

"It is essential all members complete the training. If a member doesn't complete the training, there is a risk that individual is not processing personal data in accordance with the legislation and as Councillor Knock has mentioned, we can take certain measures to negate that risk.

That can be restricting access to information and iPads, however it's hoped that we don't have to take those measures."

Erm, spose the public consultation included the 2000 on the waiting list and those 'others'. Mind if you've got a fancy roof over your head and a pension to boot via 'serving' the public authority, why worry?

The proposed Yorkshire Coast Homes merger will allow more properties to built in Scarborough Borough.

That's according to Interim Chief Executive of the organisation, Owen Ingram, ahead of the proposed merge with Redcar based Coast and Country Housing Association.

It was discussed at a borough council Overview and Scrutiny Board meeting as well as a cabinet meeting earlier this week and will now go before full council on 14 May.

The council currently has a 33.3% 'golden share' of the organisation, but that will cease on the 15 May when new legislation comes into affect.

The new legislation will also mean that Yorkshire Coast Homes does not need approval of the council, just a day after the proposal is debated.

But Owen says that they'll still work closely with Scarborough Borough Council, and that things could have been done better in the running of Yorkshire Coast Homes in the past:

"Some of the management and the governance systems that we had, weren't best practised.

What I've been doing over a period of 12 months is trying to make that better and by bringing the two organisations together, we'll be able to use the best of each organisation to ensure that continues with much improvement for the future.

We can continue to work in partnership with the council with helping with the homelessness, which the local authority has a statutory responsibility for, managing a joint waiting list so the couple of thousand people waiting hopefully can get housed a bit sooner and of course the extra developments we'll be able to build in Scarborough itself."

Social Cleansing?

"All contracting companies should consider the coming week to be a final opportunity to demonstrate excellence. Any that fail to meet the Tesla standard of excellence will have their contracts ended on Monday."

He then added a list of productivity tips including advice to:

Cancel large meetings or if you have to have them keep them "very short"

Walk out of a meeting or end a phone call if it is failing to serve a useful purpose.

Avoid acronyms or nonsense words. "We don't want people to have to memorise a glossary just to function at Tesla"

Sidestep the "chain of command" to get the job done. Managers insisting on hierarchies will "soon find themselves working elsewhere"

The RNLI is still refusing our request for an interview after the sacking of the Coxwain of Scarborough Lifeboat.

We told you how the charity alleges Tom Clark took the boat out without the proper permissions and without enough qualified crew.

Since then, a protest at the lifeboat was cancelled last weekend and a number of volunteers have resigned.

We've been asking for an interview for the last few weeks to ask questions about what happened at the time, as well as what's happening now and what's in place for the future.

The charity has sent us this statement:

"The RNLI has provided details of recent events at Scarborough lifeboat station on its website and, out of respect of our volunteers at the station, has nothing further to add.

We are working closely with staff and volunteers at the station to move forward. Everyone is keen to get back to business as usual and work together to continue to operate a safe and effective lifesaving service in Scarborough."

"The Housing Department is looking to appoint a Community Involvement Officer based in the Scarborough area. The successful Applicant will proactively contribute to the successful delivery of the Community Investment Strategy and the Housing Service Delivery Plan, and assist in the attainment of targets and provision of performance monitoring data. .."

"Tens of thousands of families on ordinary incomes are being left languishing on council house waiting lists as the region’s local authorities struggle to boost the stock of social rent homes.

Councils and housing associations in the region built or bought just 430 new social rent homes in 2016-17 despite 144,681 families sitting on waiting lists, Labour analysis of official figures shows...

"There were no new social rent homes in Calderdale, Craven, Doncaster, Hambleton, Harrogate, Hull, North East Lincolnshire, Richmondshire, Scarborough, Selby or Sheffield, according to the analysis..."

"IF Britain was the workshop of the world, the Yorkshire I grew up in was the boiler room of that factory. We mined, processed and burnt vast quantities of the coal that lay beneath us and powered a country through war and austerity and on into the swinging 60s.

Nobody has ever accused our county of lacking in confidence but, beneath the brash exterior of those days, there was a troubling insecurity rooted in a slow decline. Coal was not the fuel of the future and nor were our imperial links the basis of a sustainable economy.

By the 1970s the contradictions were there for all to see and drove a decade of social conflict. The people who had won the war and built the peace wanted their slice of the cake while the bakers said there was not enough mix to go round.

The tale that is often told of that decade – of a Britain on the verge of collapse – often has the ring of self-justifying propaganda from those who itched to get their revenge on the miners or anybody else who defied them. They got their moment under Mrs Thatcher and the sometimes alarming social upheavals of her years in office. But nor can it be denied that the problems of the country ran deep and that fundamental reform was essential.

Joining what was then the EEC in 1973 turned out, in retrospect, to be the most far-sighted decision by any government since the creation of the NHS a quarter of a century earlier.

Of course, many felt sentimental about what was seen as diminution of our links with Australia and New Zealand and other Commonwealth countries, but the opening up of our economy to new trading relationships and new sources of investment was essential to modernise and adapt.

My view is that Europe, far more than Mrs Thatcher, was the real driver of success into the 1990s and beyond.

Yet the appeal of Europe for me has always been greater than that. Born in 1940, my memories of the war years and the hardship years of recovery are very vivid. The European Union has made the idea of military conflict in Western Europe – so dominant in the era of my parents’, their parents’ and their parents’ parents – seem unimaginable.

More than that, it has made today’s young Europeans the most cosmopolitan and outward-looking generation anywhere. That is a great achievement.

These are huge and wonderful marks of progress for those of us who quite literally grew up under the threat of bombers. Of course, things were never perfect. The vote for Brexit on June 23, 2016, did not come out of nowhere, and many of Yorkshire’s towns and villages were amongst the strongest supporters of leaving.

After years of austerity the promise of another £350m a week for the NHS – the infamous promise on the bus – was understandably attractive to many. Similarly, after a decade of squeezed wages, the idea that closing down freedom of movement would help working people had a tangible appeal.

The reality, though, has been that we haven’t had an extra penny come to the NHS because of Brexit: in fact, we have seen a crisis caused by austerity worsened by the decision of so many nurses from elsewhere in Europe to leave a UK they no longer feel is welcoming to them.

And, on wages, the hard truth is that we have had nearly two years of additional real-terms pay cuts directly because of Brexit and all before we have even left.

These are the sort of things that have made me such an enthusiastic supporter of the People’s Vote campaign, and why I was so pleased to be asked to speak at the campaign’s launch in London on April 15.

I regretted, deeply, the referendum result, but I am also a democrat, and so I accepted it for what it was: an instruction from the people to the Government to negotiate a Brexit deal. But I do not think it is either a tablet of stone or a ‘get out of jail free’ card for a Government that is plainly both unwilling and unable to deliver on the promises made in the referendum campaign.

A People’s Vote on the final Brexit deal is the one way we have of both holding the Government’s feet to the fire over the Brexit negotiations and of ensuring we cannot be fired out of the EU on terms nobody sensible would agree to.

It offers a way of bringing the country back together as the vote will be on a concrete proposal and not, as in 2016, on a vague prospectus that has been argued about ever since.

To get a People’s Vote we need Parliament to legislate to give us our say and we all need to join that demand. Yorkshire folk are never feart to speak their minds, so I cannot imagine we will have a problem with that.

Sir Patrick Stewart is a Mirfield-born actor who is spearheading the People’s Vote campaign that wants the Government’s Brexit deal to be subjected to a referendum."

"All of Scarborough's 13 Labour councillors will boycott a mayor-making event in protest at taxpayers' money being spent on a "junket".

Dozens of council members, officers and dignitaries will receive a free meal at the event to mark the inauguration of the new mayor on 17 May.

Tony Randerson, Scarborough's deputy Labour group leader, said money should be used on "eroded frontline services".

It was suggested two years ago that the Councillor's make a contribution to the 'buffet' by a small donation of £15. Mind, for the price of a coffee and bun for two at the Siddon's 'retrospective' gaff over the road you could feed an horse ..

Have the Local LP nothing to say about the 'merger' of YCH with CCH and the transferrence of the entire housing stock to an out of 'town' outfit ... have they nothing to say about the £100mil now listed assets that are to be commercially managed?

"The UK regulatory regime for shale gas is considered among the most robust and stringent in the world. However, we acknowledge that it is also complex, with three regulators, the Environment Agency, the Health and Safety Executive and the Oil and Gas Authority, all with responsibilities for regulation. It is not always transparent to both the public and industry who is responsible for what. Therefore, the Government is setting up a Shale Environmental Regulator which will bring the regulators together to act as one coherent single face for the public, mineral planning authorities and industry. We intend to establish the regulator from the summer.

We anticipate that the plans for the Shale Environmental Regulator and future consultations will only apply in England."

"There will still be much to negotiate, but the UK should be involved in all aspects of the programme. The sooner our involvement can be confirmed, the sooner scientists across Europe can put politics to one side and get on with shaping the science that will improve lives," he said.

"The research community will remains anxious about the potential damage Brexit could do to UK and International science until a deal is struck but today's speech clearly shows that the UK Government understands what is at stake."

Mrs May has also said that the UK would continue to participate in the R&D of the EU's nuclear body Euratom. Last year, continued involvement had been ruled out because although Euratom is not part of the EU, membership requires being subject to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice - which the government has said that it is not willing to do.

"It is unclear how the government will resolve this apparent contradiction, but it is notable that Mrs May singled out the R&D component of Euratom for participation, indicating that some form of partial membership might be possible.

Mrs May also indicated that she was aware of concerns that restrictions on EU immigration would damage UK research.

Our immigration system supports (international collaboration), with no cap on the number of the students who can come to our universities, and tens of thousands coming every year.

The UK will always be open to the brightest and the best researchers to come and make their valued contribution.

When we leave the European Union, I will ensure that does not change".

"... Prof Styles is calling for tighter regulation and has questioned the industry’s technical ability to identify faults or fractures which are likely to lead to prohibited seismic events with a magnitude of 0.5 of greater.

His report urges that the buffer zones are incorporated into the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and that planning applications for any fracking site include all available mapped data and detailed fault surveys from underground mines.

Prof Styles said: “To date, it does not appear that any proper industry or Government due diligence has taken place with regards to fault lines mapped.”

"There used to be this idea that the asteroids were stuck in a belt between Mars and Jupiter, and the Kuiper Belt was full of icy objects. Now we know that's completely untrue, everything's kind of jumbled up," she explains.

BZ itself was discovered in a wide-sky survey of such objects in 2015, but it took some time for its unusual behaviour to be understood.

Going against the flow

BZ is in a retrograde orbit, moving around the Sun in the opposite direction to the eight planets, and the majority of other objects in the Solar System.

This immediately makes it stick out, as almost everything which formed from the disk of gas and debris around the Sun follows the direction of the star's rotation.

While this backwards habit doesn't necessarily mean that a body has been captured into its current orbit, it is certainly a strong hint.

Thinking that BZ might have been drawn in from another group of small bodies in the Solar System, Namouni and colleague Helena Morais from the Universidade Estadual Paulista in Brazil set out to model the object's orbital history."

Many states now have the cyber know-how that gives them the potential to hack into systems and disable them.

The more integrated satellite technology becomes in national infrastructure, and it is already pretty crucial, the more of a target it becomes for adversaries.

All the more important then, that the systems are secure and strangely, given its tendency to lead the way in the things, the US GPS system is vulnerable.

To that end, the EU is developing its own satellite system - Galileo.

The UK has had a pivotal role in this, providing expertise particularly in satellite production.

But when the UK leaves the EU, it will no longer have automatic access to the more sensitive parts of the system and that has angered Downing Street.

In response, the UK has threatened to withdraw from Galileo.

That will put the programme back a few years, but will also mean the UK will need to develop its own system, costing billions of pounds the UK can barely afford.

Another option would be to join up with allies such as Australia, Canada or Japan.

In the past, the military led the way in developing these systems - GPS is a perfect example, it is still owned and controlled by the US military but sits on most car dashboards in the form of sat nav, as just one example.

Commercial rivals are today overtaking military in the development of new systems and that poses its own challenge for governments.

At its most complex, the row over Galileo is dense science, and nuanced politics. It has become another Brexit tug-of-war.

But at its most simple it is about money, jobs, national security and our basic ability to use everyday technology that depends on satellites - that's why it's a disagreement that must be resolved in the UK's favour, and the EU knows that."

"Will Gardiner, CEO at Drax Group, said: “Our BECCS (Bioenergy Carbon Capture and Storage) pilot project is the UK’s first step to delivering a key technology in the fight against climate change.

“If this project is successful, it could enable Drax to become the world’s first carbon negative power station – something many would never have dreamed possible a decade ago...

“Starting to commission the pilot plant on the tenth anniversary of the Climate Change Act demonstrates the progress made in decarbonising energy in the UK – but there is much more to do and this will be our focus at the Edinburgh CCS Summit later this week.

“At Drax we want to create a low carbon future – to do that we have to test the technologies that could allow us, as well as the UK and the world, to deliver negative emissions and start to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.”

"This has been a year of transformation for your Company from a small mineral exploration company into a diversified group with additional interests now in potash, salt, Compressed Air Energy Storage (“CAES”) and hydrocarbon storage."

"Brexit "chaos" is preventing the north of England from realising its real potential, according to a think-tank.

The Institute of Public Policy Research North said the Northern Powerhouse has been "deprioritised" by government.

Its "State of the North 2018" report said for the Northern Powerhouse agenda to succeed, leaders in the North should wrest control from Whitehall.

The government said it was investing billions in the North, which has "a powerful voice" with its metro mayors.

According to the report by the centre-left think-tank:

Weekly pay has fallen by £21 in the north of England since 2008 in real terms

Public spending in the region has fallen by £6.3bn in real terms since 2009-10

Two million working age adults and one million children in the north of England live in poverty

Some of the lowest life expectancies are found in northern neighbourhoods

Report author Luke Raikes said: "The Government is so consumed by Westminster's Brexit chaos that it has deprioritised the Northern Powerhouse agenda at the very time it is needed most. This cannot continue.

"All our regional economies face severe challenges - including London's. Brexit threatens to make this much worse and the Northern Powerhouse agenda is the best chance we have of fixing this national economic crisis. In the national interest, the North needs to thrive.

"The best way to take this important agenda forward is for the North to take the lead. The next phase of the Northern Powerhouse must be of the North, by the North, for the North"..."